Spark & Blaze (A Guns & Hoses Novel) (11 page)

Brett tried to absorb everything Brostowski said while the man walked away. Brostowski’s words were comforting, but as comforting as they were, they didn’t make Brett want to open the closet door that he felt comfortably hidden behind.

Four hours passed without a call. That in and of itself wasn’t out of the norm. The guys in the firehouse killed downtime like they always did. TV, reading, or playing games on their phones.

Brett sat in one of the station house chairs and watched some documentary on Mayans without paying much attention to his co-workers. His mind was still too preoccupied by what had happened earlier with Carmichael and the subsequent conversation with Brostowski to pay much attention to the history of the ancient empire. In fact, he was zoning out blindly at the TV.

Evan settled on the couch in the rec room after his talk with Flame. He purposely refused to think of his behavior toward Malone after they returned from the call where Charlie died. He also pushed his conversation with Flame to the back of his mind and forced himself to learn about the Mayan history that was spouting from the TV.

When his phone vibrated and dinged to indicate a text message, he was so relieved for a distraction that it never dawned on him that the only people who had his cell number were actually sitting in the same room. Out of habit, Evan swiped his thumb over the screen of his cell phone and tapped the message icon in the taskbar.

Your tears break my heart and I should be the one to ease your pain
.
He is not worthy to hold you
.

“What the fuck?” Evan spat out and frowned that his phone.

Several of the guys looked at his outburst. When he didn’t give them an explanation, they turned their attention back to the TV. Well, most of his co-workers resumed watching the documentary on the Mayans. Malone’s gaze remained on him and Evan fought the irrational urge to squirm. Thankfully, the tones that indicated an emergency went off and all thoughts of the fucked up text and Malone’s deep brown eyes fled Evan’s mind.

Brett was just climbing into his Camaro when Flame called out to him. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised that Flame was about to offer him an invitation of some sort. What did surprise him was
where
the actual invitation to hang out was.

“Malone,” Flame called out after he opened the door to his truck. “A few of us are going to Bradley’s tonight. It’s a bar down in Ybor that Tig used to hit up.” Flame grinned.

Flame’s grin was just a grin. Brett didn’t get the impression that Flame was double talking by his invitation and he didn’t get the impression that Flame already knew that he had hung out at Bradley’s.

Brett weighed his reply carefully. Bradley’s was where he had hooked up with T. T who was now Tig and Flame’s boyfriend. He had hooked up with others there as well, but his history with Flame’s boyfriend wasn’t the only thing that gave him pause.

The expression on Brostowski’s face clearly said that he would be hitting up Bradley’s with his friend. Brett wasn’t sure how he felt about going to his cruising grounds with Brostowski, who knew way too much about his closet.

Still, Brostowski’s words whispered in his mind and he was way overdue to get laid. Brett was sure that it was because his little head was doing the thinking instead of his big one when he replied.

“What time?”

“Around nine,” Flame answered and climbed into his truck.

“Alright.”

Flame gave him a nod before he closed his truck door. Brett followed suit and climbed into his Camaro to head home.

By the time his shift was over, Evan had forgotten about the creepy text message and was falling into his daily routine as if he hadn’t had a mental crackup that had him sporting a boner over a co-worker. A male co-worker. Malone. His cock twitching at the thought only confused him more. Not only confused him, but scared the shit out of him as well.

His run and work out at the gym erased even the slightest thought, temptation, of arousal from the memory of Malone’s arms wrapped around him. After a shower and a quick dinner, Evan pulled up his list of where he could go dance.

Dancing was what he needed. It was what his body craved and what his mind needed to balance out the horror of reality that he had experienced up close and personal on the last few shifts.

Evan glanced once more at his laptop and tapped the address to Bradley’s into his phone before he locked up his house, jumped into his truck, and drove toward Ybor.

Brett could admit he was slightly nervous when he walked into Bradley’s. It had nothing to do with the packed Friday night crowd or the fact that he purposely left his pool cue in his Camaro. No, it had everything to do with hanging out with Brostowski who had weaseled his way into Brett’s closet and Flame who was now the boyfriend of T.
Fuck, Tig. His name is Tig, damn it.
Tig, who Brett had hooked up with in this very bar.

Still, Brett played it cool when he walked into Bradley’s. It was no surprise to see Tig sitting on the same barstool that he had occupied when he had picked up Brett.

“Hey guys,” Brett greeted his co-workers and their boyfriends with a forced smile.

“I’ll get you a drink,” Flame offered and Brett just nodded his acceptance.

“So, Brett.” Brett barely had a chance to take a sip of his Jack and Coke before Austin spoke.

“You dance?” Austin practically leered. “You look like you could dance.”

Brett wasn’t sure if he should answer or not, but since he totally sucked at dancing, he decided that honesty was the best policy.

“I dance like a stripper pole.”

“Oooh,” Austin practically purred. “You like to just be bumped and grind against.”

“Ah, um,” Brett stuttered because that wasn’t the direction he intended his answer to take. He should have known better considering the bar they were currently hanging out in.

Brett knew Austin and by the looks Austin and Simon were sharing, that he was going to be forced to play stripper pole on the dance floor. Brett convinced himself it wouldn’t be that bad and it would be fun so he didn’t fight off Austin and Simon when they dragged him back toward the dance club area of Bradley’s.

Evan was in his element. Gay bar or not. It didn’t matter. The DJ was mixing music that was the shit and if he had to fend off guys who wanted to get up close and personal with him from time to time, well, he had no problem with that. Thankfully, the guys that tried to dance with him and pick him up didn’t get pissy by being blown off.

In fact, Evan barely registered the guys who tried to dance with him and maybe his lack of acknowledgment was what sent them on their way. He didn’t care why they approached or wandered off. All he cared about was feeling the music and how it allowed his mind and body to be set free.

The music consumed him. It relaxed him as he absorbed the beat and moved his body in sync with the rhythm. Evan knew no greater freedom than losing himself in the music. It was a high that he had nothing to compare with when it came to how he felt while he was dancing.

It was a feeling he wished he could experience all the time, but like any high, he knew it would eventually end. But, it wouldn’t end anytime soon tonight. No, tonight it was early enough that he had hours to ride the euphoria he experienced from dancing.

“At least let me finish my drink first before you embarrass me,” Brett begged right before they crossed the threshold to the dance area.

“What do you think, Sy?” Austin grinned.